“We, Henne (John) Gutenberg and Friele Gutenberg, brothers, do affirm
and publicly declare by these presents, and make known to all, that
with the advice and consent of our dear cousins, John and Friele and
Perdiman Gensfleisch, brothers, of Mentz, we have renounced and do
renounce by these presents, for us and for our heirs, simply, totally,
and at once, without fraud and deceit, all the property which has
passed by means of our sister Hebele to the Convent of St. Claire of
Mentz, in which she has become a nun; whether the said property has
come to it on the part of our father, Henne Gensfliesch, who gave
it himself, or in whatever manner the property may have come to it,
whether in grain, ready money, furniture, jewels, or whatever it may
be, that the respectable nuns, the abbess and sisters of the said
convent, have received in common or individually, or other persons of
the convent, from the said Hebele, be it little or much.... And as to
the books which I, the said Henne (John), have given to the library
of the convent, they are to remain there always and forever; and I,
the said Henne, propose also to give in future to the library of the
said convent, for the use of the present and future nuns, for their
religious worship, either for reading or chanting, or in whatever
manner they may wish to make use of them according to the rules of
their order, _all_ [that is, copies of _all_] _the books which I, the
said Henne, have printed up to this hour, or which I shall hereafter
print, in such quantities as they may wish to make use of_; and for
this the said abbess, the successors, and nuns of the said Convent of
St. Claire have declared and promised to acquit me and my heirs of
the claim which my sister Hebele had to sixty florins which I and my
brother Friele had promised to pay and deliver to the said Hebele as
her portion and share arising from the house which Henne (John) our
father assigned to him for his share, in virtue of the writings which
were drawn up thereupon, without fraud and deceit. And in order that
this may be observed by us, and by our heirs, steadfastly and to its
full extent, we have given the said nuns and their convent and order
these present writings, sealed with our seals. Signed and delivered the
year of the birth of J. C. 1459, on the day of St. Margaret.”[4]
[4] Lamartine refers to an act of donating, made by Gutenberg
to his sister Hebele, nun in the Convent of St. Claire at
Mentz, by which he put her in possession of the religious
books _which he had printed at Strasbourg_, and made her
the promise of sending her successively all those which
should issue from his press.
Although it is evident from this deed that Gutenberg was at this time
successfully established in printing again by means of a further
division of his father’s estate, and by the aid of his friends, yet it
also appears that his works were not remunerative. Comparatively few
books were called for,--not only the books, but the market for them,
had to be made; and this, when we consider the competition of such a
firm as Faust and Schoeffer, was no light affair. The worthy Syndic
stood nobly by him, and his friends were kind and appreciative, or
he had accomplished much less after the breaking up of his favorite
projects at the Zum Jungen.
But a sad and deeply afflictive event overtook him, which again threw
his affairs into confusion. This was the sudden death of his beloved
Anna, who left his side with an angel’s smile and words of triumph for
the endless life. The unexpected blow completely unnerved him for a
long time; and even when the healing hand of time soothed the wound,
he had no heart to go on with an art with which she was so intimately
associated.
Friele sympathized most deeply in his sorrow, and at length advised a
change of scene and occupation as antidotes to his grief. Accordingly
he sold out his printing materials to the Syndic, Conrad Humery, after
some eight years’ practicing of his art in the new firm.
But he was not allowed to be forsaken in his old age. From letters
patent, dated January 17, 1465, we learn that he was invited to enter
the service of the Elector Adolphus of Nassau, as one of his band of
gentlemen pensioners, with a handsome salary. Thus did he honorably
retire from the practice of his loved art, secure in the thought
that although it had cost him much tribulation, yet it was firmly
established in doing its beneficent mission to the world.
This was three years after the city of Mentz was sacked and plundered
by Count Adolphus; and while others were broken up in their avocations
and forced to flee, he was spared from such a fate, and was promoted to
his own appropriate honorable place in his native city.
Thus peacefully and in useful duties did he go down the vale of life,
until February 24, 1468, when he quitted this earthly scene, let us
trust for the happier employments of the better world. His death seems
like the calm, unclouded setting of the sun, after a tempestuous day.
Some one has said that genius, in its general sense, is universal;
a possession belonging to all men, in some degree. Its greatest
achievement is not in a great poem or painting, or any other work
of art, but in a great life; and the strong heart and stout hands
are its most miraculous organs. He who, by the majestic dignity of
his daily walk, gives the beauty of truth to common life, is a great
genius,--because he illustrates and sets forth, in its noblest form,
virtue and true worth.
So Gutenberg, after he had done the will of God, and had been led on
to perfect the most glorious invention under the sun, had need of
patience. The Heavenly Father would not permit so chosen a son to
become perverted by unmingled prosperity.
Hence he suffered him to be disappointed, and the patient hero was
evidently blessed by his trials. He became, if never before, that which
so few attain, “commander of himself;” and this, according to a wise
author, is no small triumph. “He that ruleth his spirit is better than
he that taketh a city.”
Several trying lawsuits diversified the eventful life of Gutenberg.
They were grievous and harrowing to his sensitive feelings, but
subserve a good purpose to posterity, giving many well-authenticated
facts respecting him, which otherwise would have been lost. Little did
he think, while passing through these fiery ordeals, that he was by
them really inscribing the deeds of his life on the scroll of fame. We
moderns, seizing upon each item in the law records as a choice morsel
of literary history, are prone to forget that they were made at the
sacrifice of the peace and comfort of the inventor.
Especially was the writ of the notary public, summoning Gutenberg to
the parlor of the Barefoot Friars, a crushing event. It came when he
was just on the point of realizing his fondest hopes,--when the Bible
was printed, and almost ready to be issued from the press. By this
process of law, he was under the necessity of mortgaging his printing
materials to Faust; this shows that his large private fortune had been
previously expended in experiments, and that thus he had fallen into
the clutches of his more wealthy partner.
Because the great invention failed to bring in money as soon as the
firm had hoped, Faust must needs take the law on Gutenberg, seizing
his printing materials, wrought out with so much thought and toil. The
presses, the plan of which had been for years ripening in his brain,
and to secure the making of which cost him so much money, were no
longer his; neither was the type which he invented at such an expense
of time, effort, and money, nor yet the illuminated letters designed
under his eye. Yes, the very initial letters used by Gutenberg and his
firm, in works executed between 1450 and 1455, were also used by Faust
and Schoeffer in the Psalter of 1457 and 1459. After so much effort
almost in vain, what wonder if Gutenberg had become disheartened, and
yielded to despair! Far from that. His indefatigable spirit knew no
rest; many floods could not quench the fire of his perseverance; he
started again, laid the foundations, and successfully wrought in new
printing rooms, his Bible and his Psalter meanwhile being printed by
other hands.
But there were certain considerations which alleviated the poignancy
of Gutenberg’s disappointment. He had the consolation of knowing that
he had designed the enterprise of publishing the Bible, and that
he had carried it successfully to its termination. And now, with
the magnanimity of a great soul, he was willing that others should
circulate it. Besides, he had at times a hope that he should yet
have justice done him. It was as true then as now that a man may be
disappointed in his greatest hopes in life, without, on that account,
becoming unhappy; for, as one has said, “There is no other actual
misfortune except this only, _not to have God for our friend_.”
And this art of printing, which had been such a trial and triumph, such
a grief and a joy, was destined to embalm his name and the memory of
his life infinitely more than if all the conquests of world-renowned
warriors were his.
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